Six ways visual content marketing can blow your mind

When I started blogging, I was determined to build a powerful online presence around my personal brand. I conjured Rambo-like courage and grit. Grrrr.

After a year of pure sweat and daily commitment, I was not gaining any traction. It was frustrating.

But when at the very moment I began to experiment with visual storytelling, things took off.

This revelation is an example of broader communication trend in how we spread ideas online.

Why the visual marketing is happening (and what it means to you)

Whether it’s Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, people love showing and sharing images online. And it’s not only the “normal” crowd. In the tech and marketing world, it’s infographics and cartoon-based marketing campaigns that get spread just as fanatically.

But please don’t dismiss this as a fad. This is WAY deeper than that. Social networks like Pinterest may rise or fade, but visual storytelling has been with us for thousands of years and will continue to evolve.

It really is a progression (bitter tongues may call it a regression) of how we consume content. Just like Shakespeare’s literature feels stiff and indigestible by today’s reading standards, so will purely text-based content in the near future.

The almighty Internet has turned us into ADD weasels with the attention spans of gold fishes, and that means we want easy-to-consume, straight-to-the-point information. Not dumbing it down — you can be witty and sharp as a blade — but you have to present your content in a brain-friendly manner if you want to make it spread today.

An example from my personal experience

I created a visual, cartoonish branding guide called “The Outstander.” To promote it online, I uploaded a 20 preview slideshow to Slideshare. 24 hours later, it was featured on their homepage, attracted over 65,000 views … and it even produced some new commissions.

When I asked people why it’s so popular, they all said it was my cartoons paired with the short, witty statements. And these people aren’t die-hard comic geeks — they are a traditional B2B and B2C audience.

Visual marketing is Jedi-powerful. It can dramatically help you sell your products and ideas online.

Visualize your brand with high quality, original photographs, even if you’re in the B2B niche. No HORRENDOUS stock photos of tooth-paste-ad-style-smiling blondes with headsets. No. I mean real, well-shot photos of your team, preferably presenting it in an authentic and genuine way.

Make stats sexy. Whether you want to spread data and,stats internally in your company or publicly, using infographics is a sure-fire way to make people ENJOY consuming stats and it encourages them to share the information.

Be stunning. Go for beautiful product shots. I took special care with creating my visual branding guide, giving it a glossy 3D cover shot. My customers said it played a vital part in their buyer’s decision. Stunning product shots increase sales, even for digital products.

Cut to the point. Visual marketing also means you have to change the way you treat language. Concise and effective text rules over fluff and elaboration overkill. Pretend you’re paying a fine for every excess word and sentence you include!

Use visual storytelling in your slideshow presentation. One idea per slide, packaged concisely in 1-3 sentences with support of a striking, relatable image. Check the popular slideshows on the Slideshare homepage for effective examples.

Yeah, I know it’s a lot of work. But the standards of content (sharing) keep surging onward. Text overload is passé.

If you’re fighting for attention, give your audience some eyecandy and cut through the clutter. Do you have some favorite examples of this?

Mars Doriandescribes himself as a creative marketeer with a moon-melting passion for human potential and technology. You can follow his adventures atwww.marsdorian.com/

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Mars, I’m also noticing the trend to visual – visual content gets consumed effortlessly where as text based struggles to make the impact that a good image can. But how do small businesses create or find images – do you have any suggestions for software, or websites that can provide one-off images at a reasonable cost?

Yes, Mars, as you know Ameena and I are big believer in the power of images to communicate somewhat difficult ideas.

You developed a great voice through your design, visual isn’t a trend it’s always been there since cave men painted on walls, all the way to the way we dream. Nobody dreams in words!

CASUDI

My problem has always been adding enough text to the visuals 🙂 When we edited TV documentaries in my distant past we would put the film together without the script and ask people if the visuals alone told the story? On account of this I have always been visual heavy. I think #pinterest has had considerable influence in making people aware of the importance of visuals, and “pinable” visuals at that. As usual good, interesting post. TY Mark.

exactly Ryan, and btw, I just checked out picmonkey – nice tool ! Effective and easy to use. It requires more effort, but then again, you have to show more effort if you want to break through today’s clutter.

I am no longer afraid to share my own drawings to add flavor to my content. Your graphics accentuated the message and people who wear earrings or love cats are immediately connected to the author. Epic!

Of course, it’s oooold as humanity itself. But it wasn’t important in the older blogger years – those dark time were text-based. Until Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest turned image sharing into an addiction.

Being B2B, I am having trouble coming up with ways to display visual content relating directly to our services. I have displayed pictures of our work and websites we have designed, and I also create infographics, but I would like more striking ideas for visual content. Any ideas?

I know exactly which toothpaste-ad-style, headset-wearing blonde you’re talking about, Mars! I quickly click away if I see that image on a website these days. Anything is better than that picture…

I’m not talented with graphics, but the way content is progressing, I should probably start sharpening my skills. Infographics in particular. Although, it seems like people are tired of those now, too. Sigh.

Carra

Hi Amanda,

We’ve seen a lot of success using visual content in B2B. We’ve basically taken a visual approach to any content that we have. We’ll take one idea and create an infographic, slideshare presentation, image, or meme. They’re all great ways to engage your audience and also get your great content out there.

wow, that’s pretty prettey prettey sweet, Jeanne. You gots looots of attraction, but then again, it’s epic content that NEEDS to get shared ! I’m as well thinking about how I can make my content even more viral, spreading it better & more effectively.

Yeah, Jill, the demands gett higher and higher. A crappy infographic used to do the job, and now it has to be top-notch-kick-your-eyes out to really make it stand out. That’s why I’m saying that you should also bring your skills to the next level !

Jeanne Pi

Agreed. Without substance, it doesn’t matter how *pretty* your visuals look, you’re not going to get people excited enough to share.

Surely it works with email marketing, too. Text can’t and shouldn’t be endless there, the space is limited, the attention is limited, and the content better be good if I bothered to open your email. Pictures pack a harder punch. Not to mention embedding video, slideshows, or image galleries in email.

Surely visual treat is most effective for audiences than using plain text to promote your business or product on internet.It is not that text doesn’t work but using images and videos in between your text always boosts up the promotion to an other level.

The above article discloses some 6 tips that are useful for online marketing which are ready to use instantly. Using this kind of tactics will be a change for the visitors. It surely is gonna be tough and includes lot of work but will definitely give better results. Not only on our website or blog this trend is mostly used in social networking sites a great medium for promotion of your business or product.

Great post and i hope this article would help many other bloggers especially beginners.

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You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow. Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here. -Mark Schaefer